Translating Your Military Experience into Civilian Resume Bullets
Let me say this as loud as possible. YOUR CIVILIAN RESUME IS NOT A PLACE TO DUMP YOUR OER SUPPORT FORM OR YOUR OER BULLETS. You must translate your experience into actionable bullets that show both quantitative and qualitative impact. Below are several examples of what good bullets look like in your resume.
The bullet points are also available here in a word document format.
Spearhead operation plan to reach target of training 1,000+ soldiers annually, resulting in $50/soldier cost-benefit based on $2M annual operating budget; accomplish proactive outreach to prospects and development of website to facilitate streamlining of procedures to request training
Collaborated with 3 team members and command to rewrite program of instruction (POI) on Personnel Recovery operations used to train commanders and their staff on how to prepare, plan, and execute recovery of isolated, missing, detained or captured soldiers; trained in excess of 500 unit leaders on new POI
Coordinated support throughout Iraq theater of operations to enable those forces to conduct 50+ assigned combat missions
Analyzed reports from tactical ground forces to prepare daily PowerPoint briefs for commander
Commanded a 10 soldier team in the planning and execution of over 20 combat missions, conducting unilateral action together with Canadian and Afghani forces
Collaborated with U.S. Embassy and senior military leaders of 3 different host nations to design and implement embedded training programs to enhance partner nation capacity for conducting military operations
Enabled communication with local officials, leading to more effective execution of training program during which 200+ host nation soldiers were trained in U.S. military doctrine
Led 113-person team as an Air Force Officer in aircraft maintenance and inspections for 73 aircraft worth $1.7B
Developed personnel management, finance, IT and support for 1,900-person maintenance group with $240M budget
Integrated inspection flow process, reducing inspection time per aircraft from 7 to 5 days; saved 200 mission capable days and reduced post inspection failures by 50%
Managed $2M equipment budget, providing aircraft inspections for 23,000 person Fighter Wing with 66 F-16 aircraft worth $6.5B; provided 22 aircraft inspections, resulting in 8,600 maintenance abort free combat flying hours
Rated as “leader of leaders” in top 10% of organization by senior rater
Managed 22 soldiers, tracking and reporting a daily average of 1,200 American activities on the African continent.
Interpreted and combined multiple intelligence sources to produce current situational awareness for USARAF and Africa Command (AFRICOM) leaders to use in determining tactical and strategic military courses of action in Africa.
Demonstrated and implemented novel use of event tracking software, resulting in 80% reduction in report generation times and 75% reduction in coordination meetings by consolidating and tracking events on a virtual portal.
Commanded 75 soldiers and 200 civilians operating and maintaining a fleet of 20 intelligence gathering aircraft worth $245M in an austere combat environment; oversaw all mission execution while accountable for all personnel actions.
Developed and institutionalized new tactics using specialized aviation platforms to track and capture high value targets that reduced the need for ground troop interaction and confrontation by 90%, saving hundreds of American soldiers.
Flew 100+ combat missions as Pilot in Command in highly modified C-12R Beech King Air airplanes.
Commanded 35 pilots and mechanics operating 8 UH-60L Blackhawk helicopters worth $65M in a combat theater.
Supervised all mission training, planning, and execution along with all personnel actions and logistical activities associated with a self-sufficient helicopter unit which flew more than 1,200 combat missions with loss of life or injury.
Flew 140+ combat missions inserting and transporting ground troops throughout Iraq.
Led effort to reengineer the 24/7 Crisis Action Center by rewriting standard operating procedures, redefining mission and requirements, and re-training personnel after a 50% reduction of work force was executed
Managed community mass casualty exercise which included 6 United States Army installations, German police, local fire departments, and local medical support teams in excess of 600 personnel
Planned, coordinated and executed all logistical support requirements for deployment, redeployment, garrison and sustained field operations for the battalion
Managed the battalion operating budget in excess of $1.2M and supervised a 350 line property book
Commended as having the “best” of the brigade’s 8 communications teams deployed in Turkey while providing direct support to the commanding generals in the initial phases of Operation Iraqi Freedom
Authored command training instruction and implemented procedures with a team of 7 to qualify all instructors and certify all training teams, resulting in successful completion of 50+ training missions to over 20 countries worldwide
Created the Standard Operating Procedures document for use in planning and execution in all training missions
While deployed to the Black Sea, led an international team of 5 American and Greek instructors in the training of 10 personnel from Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia and Ukraine in anti-piracy operations
Ranked as the top Lieutenant in the command at each annual performance evaluation
Led a crew of 30 personnel in 2 six-month deployments to the Arabian Gulf and 2 training cycle work-up periods
Led a tactical team of 8 US Navy and Coast Guard personnel and 1 translator in the inspection of over 30 vessels from various nations in the course of security operations for Iraqi off-shore oil platforms
Attained certification for ammunition storage magazines by the Congressional Board of Inspection and Survey
Earned a score of 100% for ammunition storage magazines from the Naval Ordnance Safety and Security Agency during the ship's Conventional Ordnance Safety Review
Established 48 soldier company from scratch; trained and equipped 10 aircrews to deploy to a combat zone within 6 months of activation
Maintained highest aircraft readiness rate in the battalion at 90% while flying the most hours by 12%, enabling higher headquarters to consistently meet objective
First of 6 company commanders to meet and exceed reenlistment mission
Planned and authored 2 separate 12-page Brigade Training Directives for subordinate battalions that effectively communicated Brigade Commander’s training priorities for each quarter
Provided jobs and managed work crew of over 70 Iraqi workers to improve austere living conditions for 319 soldier Battalion in Iraq
Planned, resourced, and executed a 30 day deployment of 5 helicopters and 25 soldiers in order to support West Point summer training
Commended for exceptional leadership during initial Operation Iraqi Freedom invasion and awarded 4 air medals